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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Think Christmas - Block Tutorial and Giveaway!

Merry Christmas in July! Welcome to the Think Christmas blog hop! I have chosen to show you a very simple little block that makes a quilt (or table runner, or whatever you decide to make with it) that looks like a gift. Because I love using ribbons in my quilts, this was something I thought up to incorporate them. (Yes, they wash beautifully! The quilt above has been washed and the ribbons came through with flying colors.)Be sure to scroll down after the tutorial to find my giveaway and the other participant links to the blog hop!

1. For each block you will need 4 squares cut 6 1/2" and 4 squares cut 4". You also need ribbon.

2. Mark a line diagonally from corner to corner on each of the 4" squares. This is done on the wrong side of the fabric.

3. Move the ruler down 1/2" and make another mark.

4. Place each 4" square right sides together on the corner of a 6 1/2" square.

5. Sew across both lines on each of three of the squares. Wait on the fourth. You will be inserting ribbon.

6. Loop the ribbon over to form about 3 loops.

7. It is helpful to sew across the bottom and trim.

8. On the fourth square, sew across the lines, but leave a 1" opening in the top line. Insert the ribbon from the front and then finish sewing that seam.

9. Cut each square 1/4" between each sewn line. Press the seam to the darker fabric. Set the smaller half square triangle pieces aside.

10. Arrange the four pieces in the way you wish. I chose to make my background whites different shades for interest.

11. Sew two pieces together, but pay close attention to matching the seams. Sew the other two pieces together in the same way.

12. Press your seams open.

13. Place these two pieces right sides together and sew, again taking care to match seams. Press these seams open also.

14. Pin a piece of ribbon across the middle of the square.

15. Machine applique the ribbon in place. I wanted my packages closer together than the block allowed, so I planned it out so that my blocks interlocked and had the edge of another package at each corner. It's easy to do if you lay it all out before you sew.

16. You may have noticed that you made half square triangles at the same time as making the blocks! Mine came out perfectly! I'm sure it had something to do with math, but I didn't figure it out. (I avoid math when possible!) Sew these together and use them in a border if you wish. I chose to put batting behind each "present" and quilt around them individually. I also made the outer border "puffy" by adding extra batting behind it.

My little elf is enjoying himself by relaxing on the Christmas quilt! I think I tricked him into believing it was already Christmas!He hasn't gone outside in the 100 degree heat yet!

Thank you for stopping by! And for reading this far, you have a chance to win this really gorgeous fabric panel to use as a wall hanging, the center of a quilt, a table runner, or whatever you wish! And to sweeten the deal, I am throwing in my "Peace on Earth" Christmas banner pattern. Just be a follower for a chance to win and leave a comment telling me that you are and telling us all what your dream Christmas gift would be! (One comment per person please. I will be using the Random Number Generator to choose a winner. Open to everyone! I'll choose a winner Monday, August 6. You have through Monday at midnight to comment.)

Linda, Great tutorial. Lovely quilt. I am a follower and look forward to seeing what you do next! For Christmas, I love visiting all the kids and wish them well. We have two sick grandkids with bad hearts and I cherish every moment we spend together. It is Christmas everytime we visit. Thanks for sharing...Judith, Texas

Loving this quilt Linda!!! Thinking I might have to make one or two of these!!! ... I am a very happy follower, and my dream Christmas gift atm would have to be financial security - or at least, the knowledge that I everything will be alright financially!! Hugs!

I love your Christmas present quilt, Linda. It's just gorgeous. Thanks for the tutorial. My dream Christmas gift would be a cleaner to come in once a week, make my house spotless and then I could just sew!

Hi Linda I love the present quilt, what a great idea. Thanks for the Tutorial. My dream Christmas Gift would be to spend an hour in the bookshop and come out with as many books as I wanted with no charge!!!! I am a new follower and thanks for sharing. Susie x

Linda, your quilt is stunning! Love it all...the fabrics, those gorgeous little gifts wrapped with such pretty ribbon, and the way you put it all together to make such a beautiful little quilt. The quilting just makes the gifts jump right off the quilt! That elf looks pretty pleased with himself! Thanks so much for participating and offering such a generous giveaway...that Santa panel sure is pretty!

I am a follower and I just love your Christmas Gift quilt. I am so glad you showed me how to do the little bows so there are no raw edges exposed to fray.My ideal Christmas gift would be a renovated house - we are saving to do a new bathroom, Laundry and Kitchen and change the layout of the house in the process and some days I wish Santa would just turn up and do it so I could just get to enjoying it.

Linda, you've raised the bar with this beauty!! But somehow, I'm not at all surprised! How nice to see you are part of the hop! The hostess, Lesley, is local to me up here in Cape Breton!! We haven't met yet, but I hope we will soon. Summer's flying by and it won't be long before I'm back in TX. Can't wait to get together!! My dream Christmas gift is nothing tangible. I just want my daughter to continue to live a happy, healthy life.

Merry Christmas, Linda I have just become a follower. Thank you for the presents which you have given in the quilt - is that poinsettia quilting I see?. The tutorial is excellent with placing the ribbon bows & tie as embellishment. Thank you for the 'presents' of the Santa hanger which wants to be embellished, quilted with extra filling to bringout the goodies & for the "Peace on Earth" banner pattern will be buying candy canes as soon as I see them.My dream is for good health with a sewing machine.

Hi Linda. I'm a new follower. I came over to see the "Think Christmas" post and went around to some of your tutorials. Great ideas! I'll be sharing a few of your posts with my readers and linking to your tuts. Also, I did Pin the pincushion picture on my board at Pinterest--see, I collect them and make them and I'm addicted! Love your ideas!!!!! MarshaQuilterinmotion.com

Thank you for the great tutorial. I love the way the gifts look as though they are sitting on the quilt waiting to be opened. I just joined as a follower..My dream gift would be a healthy heart for my husband.

Good Morning LINDA, I don't even know where to begin, as Steven Curtis Chapman sings "Christmas is all in the Heart" I am listening to my very fav Christmas tunes while I hop from blog to blog. I am thinking of that one little gift under the tree, one for him and one for her...It is a wonderful song about the struggles of a young couple and how wrapped they are in each others love... And I cried when I saw yours..It is a beautiful block and made into a beautiful quilt...Christmas is all in the heart...especially at Linda's home this morning...well done sweetie!Take a peak over at sewwequilt.com

Hi Linda I just love your quilt...the presents look 3D and the ribbons are a wonderful touch...my dream is that I stay in remission and hope that we all have a wonderful holiday season...thanks for a wonderful tutorial..

Hi, I am a follower. I love this quilt. I can just see it on my grandson's big boy bed for Christmas this year. I better get busy. Your tutorial is very well done by the way. Thanks for sharing your talents with us little folks out here in blog land.

ooooo this is the next quilt i have to make this is so beautiful love the ribbon bow! thank's for the tutorial.. you tease me now i follow you with bloglovin! have a wonderful blog hop and hope to see you on my blog on sunday, have a giveaway too!

Linda this quilt is just adorable....what kind of ribbon did you use? It looks like regular satin ribbon - I've never tried washing it but if that's what it is, how wonderful! My favorite present? Having all my children and grandchildren together in my home - that hasn't happened in years unfortunately. blessings, marlene

Dream Christmas for me would be to have all my children and their families home with me for Christmas. Wow house full would be GREAT! It would really FEEL like Christmas again. We would have to make all the food and cookies again. We really don't NEED to make all of the goodies anymore, (but we do)!

Love the idea of using the ribbon as bow and wrap - just clever. And the quilting is exquisite!! Oh silly elf, yes, he would want to go back into storage once in the heat. My favorite present - well, would love my own home.

Thank you for showing us how to make your Christmas Quilt. Very cute and clever. I am a follower and have enjoyed myself while visiting. My Christmas dream would be to go to Vegas one year. I have never been there and just wondered what it would be like to enjoy Christmas there one time. You have generously shared with all of us and have given all of your followers a chance to win a cute Christmas panel and a banner pattern. Thank you for making this Think Christmas so special - for all of us.

I love this beautiful quilt. And since I have seen it in person, I KNOW it is even more beautiful when you can see it and hold it in your hands and see all the fine details in the stippling and stitches. My dream Christmas would be to have a huge barndemonium to entertain my growing family decorated to the nines in Christmas lights and colorful decorations, snow on the ground outside, and a fire in the fireplace (or woodburner) and cozy beds in the loft overlooking the space below and someone else cooking the turkey and doing the sides! You said dream! I could continue....

I follow. My dream Christmas would be to have my immediate family together and willingly decorate the tree with no arguing. I would wear my frilly Christmas apron and serve egg nog and homemade cookies and everyone would be happy.

Beautiful Quilt. Thanks for the tutorial. My Dream Christmas is when we can organize our family of 4 daughters,spouses and 6 grandkiddies to be here all at the same times.It does not happen often but it is great when it does.

oooh, I love this quilt! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!I'm a new follower of your blog, too. Would love the panel and your "Peace on Earth" banner pattern.When my kids were little... and even now when they ask what I want for Christmas, I will always say, "Peace on Earth." I know, I know... it's cliche, but I somehow hoped it made them think of the plight of others first rather than themselves (for what they wanted) and to remind them of the Best Christmas Gift of all... the One who brings Peace... Karen(and howdy, or rather "hola y mucho gusto," from faaaaaar west Tx.) ;-)

What an awesome giveaway! Hmm.. I don't celebrate Christmas but I would love to receive clothes. I think giving clothes is really hard because you have to know the person's taste. So the giver has to go to a lot of effort to find the right outfit. I often buy my kids outfits as presents and I go to such length to find something fab.

What a totally adorable little "Christmas packages" quilt! Thanks for the tute too. My dream Christmas would be for there to be peace in this world, I know that is asking the impossible, but that's my wish anyway!Thanks!Nettie

Wow Linda, this is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your wonderful tutorial too! Of course I am a follower and my dream Christmas present would be a long arm machine.......of course that isn't happening :)

I've just become a follower and I love your gift quilt. I'm going to try your tutorial and see what I can do. Thank you for the giveaway. My dream Christmas would be to spend the time with my family at Disneyland.

Thank you for sharing your block. It is adorable. Can you tell us the type and width of the ribbon. I am a new follower. The perfect Christmas would include having family and friends round a table full of holiday favorites.

Thank you for sharing your block. It is adorable. Can you tell us the type and width of the ribbon. I am a new follower. The perfect Christmas would include having family and friends round a table full of holiday favorites.

WOW Linda that is just perfect!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial I am going to have to give that a try! I would like a baby for Christmas...lol I know I know that is the stork not Santa...but you never know...LOL

Hiya! I am an email follower (now). I love your mini-quilt, so cute! My dream Christmas gift would be to get the house that I've had my eye on for the past 3 years. I am on disability and it would have to come from Santa (or Publisher's Clearinghouse, lol). But I can't complain, I have a very nice place to live, a wonderful family, and food and cool and heat, what more could I ask for. Thank you for the giveaway. The panel is beautiful, and I'm sure the banner is too. Blessed be, hugs!!!

Your package quilt is darling! I really like how you gave it dimension with the puffiness. If we could figure out a way, we would be thrilled to share our moisture and cooler temps with you!! Happy Hopping!

That is so beautiful--love it! Thanks for the tutorial to help create this lovely quilt. My dream Christmas gift would be a sewing area all neatly arranged and full of everything I need to make fun quilts like yours. :O)

I love the present quilt and the tutorial is helpful. I believe it's Happy 42nd Anniversary also! Our 43rd Anniv. is the day I post, Aug. 2nd! My dream Christmas gift would be for the elves to come straighten and organize all of my closets!

Love the tutorial for your Christmas present blocks. I am really enjoying looking/reading all the blog posts. I am and have been a follower of your blog. My dream Christmas gift would be a housekeeper to keep my house cleaned up where I could spend my time sewing.

I am a new follower. I love the gift block! Thank you for the tutorial! :-) And thank you so much for the chance to win this absolutely gorgeous Christmas panel!! I don't think I've ever seen this one before and it is incredible!!! Crossing my fingers! ;-) Merry Christmas!

What a cute quilt and I love the quilting you did in it too. I will have to try the ribbons as I usually leave those additions off because I thought they wouldn't survive washing. Great tutorial too> Thanks.

The best thing about blog hops is discovering new blogs that I want to follow. I am now a follower of yours. That is such a cute Christmas quilt and I'm thinking I'll need to make one. Thanks for the tutorial, makes it look so easy.My ideal Christmas gift would be a new sewing machine and a longarm.

Your Christmas gift quilt is so precious. Thanks for putting your tutorial in a printable format. It makes it so much easier to save projects to work on. My ideal Christmas present would be a new sewing machine that does embroidery. Although I love to do hand embroidery, I have a few projects I would like to do using machine embroidery. Thanks for the opportunity to win-that would really motivate me to make something Christmas themed.Rosemarynellieduclos@yahoo.com

I love your quilt. My ideal Christmas gift would be a cleaning service about the first of December, so I could do all the decorating, sewing or baking without worrying about having to clean, also. I don't really need anything except for everyone to be healthy and able to be home for the holidays. That would be wonderful!Beckie in Brentwood, TN

Blogger tells me that I now follow your blog: Buzzing and BumblingCongratulations, MarciaW You are now following Buzzing and Bumbling Your quilt is outstanding! The quilting on it to make the presents stand in relief is great. Thanks! My ideal Christmas gift would be to have no pain during the holidays so can lift/bend and cuddle my five little grandnieces. from FLorida

I have been following you for quite a while, and a perfect Christmas for me would be having all of my family together to celebrate. Your mini quilt is precious and you did a fabulous tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

Cute quilt! Love the tutorial. My dream Christmas gift besides having all my family home for Christmas would be to have my sewing room finished!! It's a work in progress right now, and it's been a year since we've started working. That means my sewing things are all over the house, in boxes, in different rooms, I am totally lost. lol

Linda I LOVE this quilt block and the entire quilt. Awesome and such fun. Great tutorial. Thank you.

First, yes, I am a follower via GFC as well as email notifiation (which is why I am a day late visiting since those emails are generally one day after a post :( )

My dream Christmas present would be a brand new 6 quart Kitchen Aid mixer since mine is making horrible noises and I'm afraid to use it too much. I NEED that mixer fixed, but I'd really love a brand spankin' new one instead.

What a cute design you have created. You did an excellent job of your tutorial. Thanks for participating in the blog hop. I have become a new follower too.Thanks for the chance to win such a nice Christmas panel.Regards from Western Canada,Anna

Such a cute holiday quilt! LOVE the ribbons!My "dream" Christmas would be a relaxing holiday with snow and beautiful mountain views ... don't have that here in Texas. Thanks for sharing your pattern and the chance to win !

my dream gift would be a prepaid a gift card or gift cert. so I would not have to worry about wanting to order something and mayb not really being able to "afford" even though my husband says go ahead.Thank-you for the panel and banner giveaway lots to do with panels.Beckyderry04@yahoo.com

A dream Christmas would have Family gathered at my home for HUGE amounts of food (I miss the times that all my aunts and cousins would get together for the two weeks before to make Christmas goodies.)We do not need lots of gifts, just to all be together would be the best.I am a new follower; I found you through the Christmas Blog Hop. I will be using your block to make a new table runner for my coffee table. Thanks for sharing. Tina

Tina, I've been trying to respond to your comment to thank you, but I keep getting a notice that the message cannot be delivered to your email address. I hope you will check back here so you can see that I am appreciative of your kind words and your following! Thank you!

My dream Christmas would be to sit around with my Dad, Aunt and Uncle hearing them play guitar, banjo, fiddle and harmonica, singing Tennessee hillbilly religious songs that were favorite of their mom's (my grandmother whom I never met). Of course my mom would be there too and my little brother who never made it past 16 year. This gathering? Held up in heaven of course celebrating the birth of the one who makes it all possible for us to see each other again!

For an earthly Christmas, being with family -- DH, DS, furbabies, family and friends and church family celebrating our savior's birth.

The Christmas gift I would like is peace on earth. If that is impossible (and I suspect it is), a nice new Mercedes Benz will do. Now, I must say that I love your little holiday quilt and it would be perfect to start the Christmas sewing season with. Thanks for the great tips! I'm happy to be a follower.

I'm already cutting out the fabric. LOVE THIS! Maybe working on Christmas will make the 105 degrees outside feel cooler. My Christmas wish would be to have all my family here safe and sound--winning the lottery wouldn't hurt either.

I'm already a follower. I receive your updates by email. Thank you for the lovely tutorial. I love the way you inserted the bows. A special Christmas gift for me would be a new kitchen floor. Mine has holes worn through.

I got. Exactly what I wanted last year, a sewing machine. This year I would like some money to use as I please. I save alot of money on my hobby by garage sali g and thrifting. But itS not a one trip thing.

I don't know how I missed this tutorial in July, Linda, but this is just the sweetest thing ever. I am definitely going make one or three of these as gifts for this year. Thank you so much for your kindness and sharing. :) Hugs.

You can leave your comment here! (I'm so sorry, but if you are an Anonymous commenter, your comment will not publish. This is because of the huge amounts of spam that I have received from anonymous sources.)

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I have been fascinated with quilting since I was a little girl sleeping under a Dutch girl quilt that my grandmother made. Now I'm a grandmother myself and designing my own quilts. I also have a quilt pattern business with my own, original designs.
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